At the start of the round 7, these are the only two undefeated players remaining in the tournament. The winner of this match will almost certainly make Top 8. As they shuffled up, Ryan lamented the quality of his deck: “Maybe he has 29 cards . . . my only chance of winning.” Word had spread about just how abysmal Ryan’s card pool was—he had beaten Nick Little in the previous round with Die for Darkseid!
Ryan won the die roll and selected the odd initiatives. Both players kept their opening hands and neither had a play on the first turn. Tillman had Bluejay in the concealed area on turn 2, while Ryan had Captain Boomerang, Digger. On turn 3, Ryan led off with Rocket Red #4 in front of Captain Boomerang. Tillman had Joseph Jones ◊ General Glory. Ryan attacked Rocket Red into Joseph, but Tillman brickwalled with Bulletproof. Ryan passed, and Tillman smashed through with his characters. He had already established a formidable 48–36 lead.
It was Tillman’s initiative on turn 4, and he recruited Henry King ◊ Brainwave, Sinister Psionic behind Joseph. Ryan had Batman, Hidden Crusader in the hidden area. Tillman sent Henry to take down Rocket Red, and his other characters attacked directly. Batman tried to take down Joseph, but UN Recognition stunned back. At the end of the turn, Tillman lost Joseph and Ryan lost Rocket Red. Tillman widened his endurance lead considerably—he now led 40–15.
On turn 5, Ryan played Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid. Tillman had Sinestro, Corrupted by the Ring behind Brainwave. Batman was sent in to trade with Brainwave, and then Floronic Man took down Sinestro without a problem. That was the turn, and Tillman was ahead 31–11.
Tillman played the ubiquitous turn 6 Gorilla Grodd behind Henry, while Ryan played Membership Drive before recruiting Metamorpho in front of Floronic Man. Tillman declared a team-attack of his Gorilla and Henry King into Metamorpho. Ryan was forced to stun Henry King, and he was not able to attack back without losing the game. The turn ended with Tillman ahead 27–5.
Ryan’s turn 7 play was Prometheus, which he set between his other characters in the front row. Tillman had Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas in the front row protecting the Gorilla. Henry was set in the support row. At the beginning of combat, Tillman returned Bulletproof to his hand with Aquaman’s ability. Ryan declared an attack with Metamorpho, and Tillman used his Gorilla to KO Aquaman and take him. He was foiled, however, by Die for Darkseid. Ryan took down Henry with Floronic Man, and then Prometheus ran over the Gorilla. Batman attacked directly, and the endurance totals were 5–1 in Ryan’s favor.
On turn 8, Tillman had Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman and Kimiyo Hoshi ◊ Dr. Light. Kimiyo was set in front of Shayera, and the Gorilla stayed next to Kimiyo in the front. Incredibly, Ryan had an 8-drop—Amazo. Tillman had two copies of World’s Greatest Heroes to dig for cards to help him win the game. His first attack brought everything but the Gorilla into Amazo. Ryan had Running Interference to cancel the attack. Seeing that his situation was hopeless, Tillman conceded.
Ryan Jones wins!